The present invention relates generally to pneumatic nail guns or nailers, and more particularly to a new and improved nail coil collation strip which can be utilized under a variety of environmental conditions without causing jamming of the pneumatic nail guns or tools within which such nail coil collation strips are adapted to be used.
Pneumatically-operated nail guns, tools, or nailing machines, wherein a driver element is driven by means of compressed air so as to in turn drive a nail into an underlying workpiece or substrate, are of course well known. Such nail guns, tools, or nailing machines are exemplified by means of the nailing machine disclosed within U.S. Pat. No. 5,810,239 which issued to Stich on Sep. 22, 1998. As can be appreciated from FIG. 1, which corresponds to FIG. 1 of the noted patent, the nailing machine comprises a handle portion 1a oriented along an axis Q and by means of which the gun, tool, or machine may be held and manipulated. A magazine 2 is adapted to hold or contain a collated strip of nails 4 wherein the individual nails 5 are mounted within a collation strip 4a by means of their head and upper shank portions. A body member 1 has a pneumatically-driven driver mechanism or component, not shown, disposed therein so as to repetitively impact upon each individual nail 5, as each individual nail 5 is conveyed into the body member 1 of the tool or machine adjacent to the nose portion 3, so as to drive each nail 5 into an underlying workpiece or substrate. The tool or machine further comprises an aimer attachment as disclosed at 6, while a pair of separable nail guides are disclosed at 13.
With reference now being made to FIGS. 2 and 3, another conventional or PRIOR ART collation strip for mounting a plurality of nail-type fasteners therein is disclosed and is generally indicated by the reference character 10. The collation strip 10 has a substantially U-shaped cross-sectional configuration as seen in FIG. 3, is fabricated from a suitable polypropylene composition, and is seen to comprise a vertical spine section 12, and an upper horizontally disposed hinged section 14 which is disposed substantially perpendicular to the vertical spine section 12 when the upper hinged section 14 is folded or bent into its horizontal disposition or orientation about a hinge line 16 integrally interconnecting the hinged section 14 to the spine section 12. In a similar manner, a lower horizontally disposed hinged section 18 is disposed substantially perpendicular to the vertical spine section 12 when the lower hinged section 18 is also folded or bent into its horizontal disposition or orientation about a hinge line 20 integrally interconnecting the hinged section 18 to the spine section 12. Both the upper and lower hinged sections 14,18 of the collation strip 10 are respectively provided with a series of laterally spaced pairs of arms or tabs 22,24 which together define a series of laterally spaced pockets or recesses 26, 28.
The pockets or recesses 26,28 are aligned with each other along centerlines 30 such that when the hinged sections 14,18 are disposed at their folded or bent positions around the hinge lines 16,20 so as to be disposed in their perpendicular orientations with respect to the spine section 12, each one of the pockets or recesses 26 of the hinge section 14 will be coaxially aligned with a respective one of the pockets or recesses 28 of the hinge section 18 such that a shank portion of a nail can be accommodated and retained within such pockets or recesses 26,28 of the hinge sections 14,18. In order to facilitate the feeding or forward movement of the collation strip 10 within a typical pneumatically-operated nail gun, tool, or nailing machine, the collation strip 10 is also provided with a plurality of laterally spaced elongated diamond-shaped holes or apertures 32 which are serially arranged along a centerline 34 within a vertically central portion of the spine section 12. It is lastly noted that each set or pair of arms or tabs 22,24 which cooperate together so as to define the recesses or pockets 26,28 therebetween are separated from each adjacent set or pair of arms or tabs 22,24 by means of a vertical slit 36,38 which facilitates the bending of the hinged sections 14,18 into their horizontal states, as well as the curvature of the collation strip 10 when the same is formed into a coiled structure for incorporation within the magazine 2 of a pneumatically-operated nail gun, tool, or nailing machine 1 such as that shown in FIG. 1.
Normally, or at least very often, such conventional pneumatically-operated nail guns, tools, or nailing machines are operated within an enclosed environment, that is, within a residence, a commercial or industrial building, and the like. However, it has recently become more prevalent to use such nail guns, tools, or nailing machines upon, for example, job sites which are open to the atmosphere and are therefore exposed to the local weather conditions and the local environment. More particularly, that means that the nail guns, tools, and nailing machines are exposed to, and are being operated under, substantially extreme temperature conditions. More specifically, if such nail guns, tools, and nailing machines were being employed, for example, during the summer months within the southwestern part of the United States, they might very easily or readily be required to be operated in an environment wherein the prevailing or ambient temperature was approximately 140xc2x0 F. or higher. For example, the job site could comprise a commercial or industrial building roof, black in color, where as a result of impinging solar radiation, the ambient temperature can attain levels which are substantially higher than normal ambient temperatures officially recorded by the National Weather Service. Still further, the nail guns, tools, or nailing machines are often used at remote sites as a result of which the nail guns, tools, or nailing machines often experience jostling or vibrational forces which may adversely affect the proper retention of the nails within the collation strips. In a similar but opposite manner or sense, if such nail guns, tools, and nailing machines were being employed, for example, during the winter months within the northern part of the United States, they might very easily or readily be required to be operated in an environment wherein the prevailing temperature was approximately 20xc2x0 F. or lower. It therefore becomes somewhat difficult to fabricate a collation strip for such pneumatically-operated nail guns, tools, and nailing machines which is capable of operating under such widely varying environmental and temperature conditions.
More particularly, the collation strip 10 is fabricated from a particular or suitable polypropylene composition, and when the collation strip 10 is employed within relatively high-temperature environmental conditions, it has been experienced that the collation strip becomes very flexible whereby the nail fasteners experience or undergo slippage and are no longer able to be properly secured, held, or retained within the aforenoted recesses or pockets 26,28 with the proper degree of slip resistance. Accordingly, several different modifications have been implemented in connection with the fabrication of the collation strip 10 in an attempt to overcome or rectify the noted operational deficiencies, however, such modifications did not in fact resolve the problems or difficulties under all environmental conditions. For example, in connection with the manufacture of the collation strip 10, a thicker collation strip 10 was in fact fabricated in order to render the same less flexible when being used within the higher temperature ranges, and this structure in fact resolved the nail slippage and retention problems characteristic of the collation strip 10 when being used within a nail gun, tool, or nailing machine under such elevated temperature conditions, however, additional operational problems or difficulties occurred in connection with such a collation strip 10 when the same was being used within a nail gun, tool, or nailing machine under substantially low temperature conditions.
More particularly, when such a collation strip 10 would be used within a nail gun, tool, or nailing machine when the atmospheric temperature conditions are within the range of, for example, 20-40xc2x0 F., the relatively thickened collation strip 10 became so stiff that there wasn""t sufficient flexibility which would permit the collation strip 10 to properly feed the nails to their nosepiece-firing positions within the gun, tool, or machine. In particular, as has been noted in connection with the collation strip 4 of nails 5 as disclosed within U.S. Pat. No. 5,810,239, the collation strip 4 of nails 5 is formed into a coiled structure which is housed within the magazine 2. Accordingly, when the relatively thickened collation strip of nails is disposed in its coiled format within a nail gun magazine, and the plurality of nails are adapted to be serially fed to the nail gun nosepiece-firing position, the coiled collation strip tends to retain its coiled shape or configuration whereby the collation strip cannot be effectively uncoiled so as to properly feed the nails to the nosepiece firing position. In addition, the pockets or recesses of the hinged portions are also not flexible enough to effectively release the shank portions of the nails. Accordingly, the nail gun, tool, or nailing machine experiences jamming for several different operative reasons.
In light of the foregoing, a need exists in the art for a new and improved nail collation strip which can be utilized within nail guns, tools, or nailing machines under extremely diverse temperature conditions whereby the nail collation strip will be capable of exhibiting a sufficient amount or degree of stiffness such that the collated nails are not undesirably or prematurely released from or permitted to undergo slippage with respect to collation strip, and yet nevertheless, the collation strip will exhibit a sufficient amount of flexibility so as to enable the collation strip to effectively undergo uncoiling from its originally or initially coiled state within the nail gun, tool, or nailing machine magazine, as well as enabling the release of the nails from their recesses or pockets, and thereby be capable of readily feeding the nails in a serial manner into the nosepiece firing position of the nail gun, tool, or nailing machine so as to effectively prevent the occurrence of any jamming from occurring within the nail gun, tool, or nailing machine. In this manner, a single collation strip of collated nails could be used under diverse temperature conditions as opposed to requiring the selective use of different collation strips of nails in accordance with temperature-dependent characteristics in order to ensure that the collation strips will be operative or functional without experiencing release or slippage of the nails from the collation strips under elevated temperature conditions, or without experiencing jamming of the collation strip within the gun, tool, or machine under lower temperature conditions.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved collation strip of nails, and a nail gun, tool, or nailing machine having such a new and improved collation strip of nails incorporated therein.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved collation strip of nails, and a nail gun, tool, or nailing machine having such a new and improved collation strip of nails incorporated therein, wherein the various operative difficulties and deficiencies characteristic of PRIOR ART collation strips, and nail guns, tools, or machines having such collation strips incorporated therein, are effectively overcome and resolved.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved collation strip of nails, and a nail gun, tool, or nailing machine having such a new and improved collation strips incorporated therein, wherein the collation strips are capable of being used under a diverse range of temperature conditions.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved collation strip of nails, and a nail gun, tool, or nailing machine having such a new and improved collation strip of nails incorporated therein, wherein the collation strips are capable of being used under a diverse range of temperature conditions so that regardless of the particular ambient temperature conditions of the geographical region within which, for example, a nail gun, tool, or nailing machine having such new and improved collation strip of nails incorporated therein is being used, the collation strip will exhibit a proper amount or requisite degree of both stiffness and flexibility.
A last object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved collation strip of nails, and a nail gun, tool, or nailing machine having such a new and improved collation strip of nails incorporated therein, wherein the collation strips are capable of being used under a diverse range of temperature conditions so that regardless of the particular ambient temperature conditions of the geographical region within which, for example, a nail gun, tool, or nailing machine having such new and improved collation strip of nails incorporated therein is being used, the collation strip will exhibit a proper amount or requisite degree of both stiffness and flexibility whereby even under relatively high temperature conditions, the collation strip will in fact retain the collated nails therein and thereby prevent slippage and premature release of the nails from the collation strip, and conversely, under relatively low temperature conditions, the collation strip will nevertheless be sufficiently flexible as to be capable of conveying the collated nails to the nosepiece firing position, and the release of the nails from the pockets or recesses defined within the collation strip, without causing jamming of the nail gun, tool, or nailing machine.
The foregoing and other objectives are achieved in accordance with the teachings and principles of the present invention through the provision of a new and improved nail collation strip, and a nail gun, tool, or nailing machine having the new and improved nail collation strip incorporated therein, which comprises, in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention, the fabrication of a collation strip which has a thickness dimension which is approximately 30% thicker than a conventionally used collation strip. In addition, a plurality of apertures, which are provided in addition to the apertures already provided therein for achieving the actual conveyancing or forward movement of the collation strip within the nail gun, tool, or nailing machine and which may have any one of a plurality of geometrical configurations, are provided within the spine section of the collation strip. The enhanced thickness dimensioning of the collation strip provides the strip with enhanced stiffness properties so as to be capable of retaining the nails therewithin under relatively high temperature levels, however, the provision of the plurality of supplemental apertures within the spine section of the collation strip provides the spine section of the collation strip with the desired or requisite amount of flexibility so as to enable the collation strip to be uncoiled from its coiled state within the gun, tool, or machine magazine and thereby be additionally capable of serially feeding the nails to the nosepiece firing position without causing any jamming of the nail gun, tool, or nailing machine.
In accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention, the aforenoted supplemental apertures overlap the hinge lines defined between the spine and hinged sections of the collation strip so as to provide the tab portions of the collation strip, which define the recesses or pockets within which the nail shank portions are disposed, with enhanced flexibility characteristics or properties. Therefore, in addition to the aforenoted enhancement in the flexibility of the spine section of the collation strip so as to enable the collation strip to be uncoiled from its coiled state within the nail gun, tool, or nailing machine magazine, and thereby be capable of serially feeding the nails to the nosepiece firing position such that the nail gun, tool, or nailing machine does not experience any jamming, enhanced flexibility is also imparted to the tab portions of the collation strip so as to facilitate release of the nail shank portions from the recesses or pocket regions of the collation strip.